Dimitri Staszewski

Heart-Shaped Tomatoes

Heart-Shaped Tomatoes is a photo-driven cookbook about Elda Cristini, a 102-year-old Italian immigrant grandmother for whom cooking has remained a constant thread throughout her storied life. At 102, Elda still lives on her own, can make pasta from scratch, grows her own tomatoes, cooks them into a beautiful red sauce, and confidently pulls together a multi-course meal.

Heart-Shaped Tomatoes uses recipes, photography, and personal essays as points of entry to examine themes of independence, generational knowledge, love, and family.

The book was co-authored by Madelyn Wigle with recipes by Elda Cristini and Maria Cristini. It was designed by Mitch Wiesen and self-published by me, Dimitri Staszewski. The book was published in the spring of 2022 and remains available for purchase at heart-shapedtomatoes.com.